My Adult Romantic Comedy is SNAFU
by Heat
Summary: A lot of time has passed since Hikigaya Hachiman and his peers graduated high school. Filled with regrets but unable to resolve them, Hikigaya is left feeling empty, and has buried himself in his work to forget. But it seems the rom-com gods haven't forgotten him. New chances to fix old wounds arise; but will the monster of logic be able to change?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Troublesome Beginning, Part 1

 _1_ _st_ _Friday_

I stare at the moron in front of me. He's lost a lot of weight over the years, and he's a _little_ wiser than he used to be. But honestly, he's still a big wimp, and more importantly, a massive idiot. "Zaimokuza…" I rub my temple. "What is this crap?"

"Er… well… you see…" He chuckles nervously. "Work got in the way and I uh…" He rubbed his hands and wore a pathetic expression on his face.

"Didn't finish?" I flip a few pages over and shake my head in disgust. "I extended your due date once already. And if you weren't finished, why did you insist on meeting me here like this? I'm busy enough as is, I don't need you wasting my time."

"Ah… but…" Zaimokuza's lips started to quiver.

"Stop, just stop." I really don't feel like listening to his sputtering today. "I'll give you two weeks to finish these chapters. If you don't make that, it's over, you hear me?"

"O-of course, Hachiman!" Zaimokuza nods and smiles.

"I'm leaving, and you're paying for my coffee. See you later." I get out of my seat at the coffee shop and walk out the door, annoyed that once again, Yoshiteru Zaimokuza has wasted my precious time. Admittedly, I don't do much with my spare time, but still. He's pushing twenty-six and he still can't even hit a deadline? No wonder he's a lowly retail worker struggling to make ends meet. He's lucky all I demanded in turn for a due date extension was a single coffee.

It's autumn in Chiba. The air feels crisp and cool, and I'm glad I brought a jacket, because today's a bit colder than usual. I unlock my car and start the engine. "W-wait, Hachiman!" An annoying voice reaches my ears. For a brief moment, I contemplate just leaving him and heading back to the office.

I roll down the window. "What do you want?" He's lucky I'm so benevolent.

"Sheesh, you didn't even give me a chance to explain why I wanted to meet you in person!"

"Just hurry up and tell me."

"Well, if you wait a bit longer, Totsuka is almost here to join us." Well, that changes things. Idiot, you should have told me sooner! Assert yourself!

Totsuka was one of the very few people I bothered to keep in touch with after high school. The reason? He was one of the only to bother to try and keep in touch with me. Also, Totsuka is an angel. He always has, and always will be. Truly, a timeless entity. I turn off the car and got out, locking it.

On a side note, I had absolutely no intention to keep in touch with Zaimokuza. I work now as an editor for a publisher in Chiba, but I was only hired recently, so when I was presented with the "opportunity" to edit for a "promising" new writer by the name of Yoshiteru Zaimokuza, I had no choice but to accept.

The two of us headed back in the shop, choosing a table near the window. "So, Hachiman… I know you're upset I didn't reach the deadline, but what do you think of what I've written so far?"

"It's… not terrible. Sadly, I have come across worse than this. But it's very clearly rushed. The quality is far below that of your previous chapters. For example, here, where the protagonist is mulling over his thoughts, you don't have any of the witty remarks that pretty much define your story."

Truth is, the story Zaimokuza is writing is actually pretty good so far. Despite it being a rather stereotypical high school romantic comedy, his main character employed intense monologuing and witty remarks to avoid being basic. The relationships between the characters in the story was being given good attention to detail. At the very least, normalfags would eat it up, likely thinking it was "cool" and "contrarian" which is good for the publishing company, obviously.

Oh damn. I've been well trained in corporate slavery already. Forgive me, house-husband dreams! I couldn't find a woman deluded enough to want me!

"Anyone can have bursts of skill. But to be truly good, you need to maintain the same level of quality throughout the novel. Don't get lazy or careless now, you idiot." Zaimokuza nodded enthusiastically, with his hand on his chin. He opened to his mouth say something, but the door to the coffee shop opened, causing us to look in that direction. A young man walked through the door.

"Totsuka!" Zaimokuza gestured to our table, and Totsuka smiled in our direction, walking over.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" Totsuka remains as chirpy as ever. He's become a successful professional tennis player, winning tournaments across the nation. While I am glad to see him do so well, it makes it difficult for me to ever see him, which is a tragedy in and of itself. _But if it protects that smile, it's a worthy sacrifice!_

"I am well, sir Totsuka! Now that we are all here, I will tell you all why I invited you here!" Zaimokuza pushed his glasses up. "As you know, I have, um, problems, with talking to fair maidens! As a result, I have been trying to find a gokon to attend."

Maybe if you didn't insist on calling every woman you meet a fair maiden, you'd have a better chance at scoring a date, Zaimokuza. And a gokon? Really? How desperate are you?

"And I have succeeded!" Zaimokuza stood up, dramatically raising his fist to the air, instantly earning withering glares from everyone else in the café. Realizing he was the target of their ire, he swiftly sat back down. Sheepishly, he continued. "Anyway, there's a couple of gokons tomorrow some of my co-workers are going to. They told me I could go but that I should go to the one they weren't going to." That's cold, Zaimokuza's co-workers. I suppose I don't blame you, though…

"Ah… What does have to do with us, Zaimokuza?" Totsuka asks with a confused expression on his face. I think I understand why, though – he probably wants us there as a combination of moral support and perhaps as a way to look better himself, so whoever goes to it doesn't think he's a total loser. In short, Zaimokuza is pathetic and completely inept at socializing. What else is new?

"My comrades… I believe we should go together!" What an idiot. As if I'd ever go on a group date-

"I should be free this weekend!" Totsuka said. "Hachiman, what about you? I think it would be fun!" For a moment, time freezes as my brain calculates this turn of events. I must attend this gokon. What if some drunken fool mistakes Totsuka for a girl and tries to do something to him? I would never forgive myself for not protecting him!

"I… I guess I can go…" I mutter the words.

"Excellent! This will be glorious! I'll tell you the details. We're meeting at this karaoke bar called Sunshine, at about 7 PM. Be there a bit early so we can group up and prepare!"

"Alright… You know what, Zaimokuza, Totsuka. I have to go to the office again. There's a meeting in about half an hour. Mail me the information." There was a meeting, but I am not attending it, I just want to leave.

I enter my car, sitting down and turning up the engine again.

 _What the HELL is wrong with me?_ Delusions about Totsuka aside, I honestly have no idea what I am going to do at the gokon. Dates? Parties? Me? Why does Totsuka have such a bizarre effect on me? If he asked me to slam my face into a rusty nail, I'm afraid I'd actually do it, with enthusiasm, no less.

Resisting the urge to instead slam my face into the steering wheel, I pull out of the parking lot and start driving towards the office. Fortunately, there isn't much traffic, so I arrive at the office pretty quickly. After parking my car, I walk towards the building with the words "Lotus Publishing" above two automatic doors.

Entering the building, I nod at the receptionist, who doesn't seem to notice my existence, typing away at her desktop at a brisk pace. Damn you woman, do your job! I'm human too! What if I was a dangerous creeper or something? I head towards the elevator, patiently waiting for it to open, and pressing the 4 button immediately upon entering it.

The office is relatively quiet, for a Thursday, anyway. While I didn't have a meeting to attend today, I did have some minor editing work to do in my personal work cubby. I began heading in that direction, but I heard a voice call out, "Hikigaya."

That voice belongs to my roommate, Yoshida Ebisu. See, I live in an apartment now, but it's expensive to shoulder that on my own, so my boss told me to meet with Yoshida and rent an apartment together. I would normally object to such a violation of my loner lifestyle, but necessity forced my hand. Fortunately, Yoshida seems to be even less social than me, and so we don't talk very much, living separately, just in the same apartment.

"What's up?" I asked.

"The boss is looking for you. I don't know what for."

"Okay then. Thanks for the heads-up." Crap. The boss doesn't check up on any of us that often. I can't really think of a reason for him to call me, unless it's Zaimokuza related. Ugh. I hope that's not it. I really don't feel like crapping out excuses for him today. Why do I cover that moron anyway? I knock on the boss's door.

"Come in!" I twist the door knob and enter. The boss keeps his office neat. Every book is in alphabetical order on the shelves. Every paper neatly sorted into folders on his desk. Barely any decorations, barring a picture of his wife on his desk. I've heard him say that he used to be a computer programmer before he became involved in publishing, and it's left him with a habit of staying organized.

"Have a seat, Hikigaya." He gestured to the chair in front of me. Boss's name is Kaga Robbins. The man is only half Japanese; his father was an American, but he doesn't really look like it, sporting the slighter physique and hair/eye colors an average Japanese person has.

Sitting down, I get to the point. "Did you need something from me?"

"You young guns, always in a hurry to do something else. No, I don't need anything from you, other than the work you've already been doing for me. In fact, I like the work you've been doing for me so much, I've actually decided to give you a raise today."

Well that was unexpected. I'm certainly not complaining. "Thanks, boss." Now to get out of here before this conversation becomes a chore.

"Oh, I suppose I do have a question for you, Hikigaya. How's life with Yoshida going for you?"

"It's fine. We don't hate each other or anything. He's a good roommate, I suppose. Why do you ask?"

"I guess I just want to make sure my two promising up and coming young editors are getting along. You two are a part of the future of this company, after all." Sheesh. You sound like ancient history when you talk like that, old man. I nod politely. He opens his mouth to say something, but closes it again, as if changing his mind. "Anyway, that was all. Carry on."

I exit the room, and return to my cubby. Work. As a high school student, I always said I would never become a corporate slave, and that to work is to lose. My job is quite a bit better than your average corporate slave's, at least. Ah well. I never seriously believed I'd be able to skate by in life without working. Turning over the first page, I concentrate, and hours pass before I finally finish. Filing away my hard work, I turn off my desktop, and open my phone to clock out.

I notice two text messages on my phone. Dutifully, I clock in, and then scroll to check my mail. One is from Zaimokuza, repeating the basic details of the gokon, as well saying, "Hachiman! My brother-in-arms! Come dressed properly for battle! Dress in semi-casual!" He's such an idiot. The other is from my beloved sister, Komachi. She's actually a student right now, but she's taking a break to save up money. At least, that's what she says, but she spends quite a bit of time shopping…

I open the text. "Onii-chan! R u busy tomorrow?" Shooting her a quick "Maybe," I leave the building and get in my car. The phone makes a notification, but instead of checking, I pull out of the parking lot and begin my drive home. The drive home lasts less than half an hour, fortunately. I lock my car and enter the apartment, silently thankful for my access to the bottom floor.

I'm not feeling hungry today, so I just enter my room and pull out my phone. Komachi's response is, "Is it work?"

I respond, "I've got a gokon to go to at 7, but if it's important I'll bail. What's up?" As I hit the send button, I yawn. I should really head to bed soon. As I'm pulling on my shirt, my ringtone goes off.

Seeing Komachi on the screen, I answer.

"Hello?"

"Gomi-chan! Are you seriously going to a gokon?"

"Er… a friend asked me to go with him…"

"I see! Do you know anyone going to it?"

"I'm afraid not. Why did you want to talk to me, exactly?"

"That's a bit disappointing, but maybe it's for the best! We're going to meet up tomorrow. I want you to pick me up from mom and dad's place at 10 AM."

"While I don't object to spending time with you, what exactly are we going to do?"

"Shopping! We gotta get you ready for your outing! After all, gomi-chan only meets new people like twice a year, so we gotta make this count if you're ever going to get married!"

Dammit Komachi, I'm not Hiratsuka-sensei. I don't even care about getting married at this point. "What's wrong with my current wardrobe?"

"The fact that you can't see what's wrong with it only reinforces my belief that you are in need of a fashion lesson, onii-chan. Just trust in your cute little sister to get things done!"

"I… whatever, Komachi. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Alright, gomii-chan. I have some stuff to do, so goodnight!"

"'Night, Komachi." Hanging up, I brush my teeth and do a bit of reading, before finally crawling into bed and closing my eyes. That night, I dream of snow. By the time morning arrives, however, I've already forgotten.

 _1_ _st_ _Saturday_

My alarm clock goes off, beeping and flashing 8:00 AM. I get up slowly, stretching a bit, before entering my bathroom and doing a bit of freshening up. I leave my room, and walk to the kitchen. Yoshida is sitting at the table by the kitchen we use for eating, munching on a rice ball while reading a novel. He nods at me once before returning to his book.

I fry a couple of eggs and wolf them down alongside some rice. "I'm headed out, Yoshida." He nods again in my direction.

"Have fun, I guess." He says. I walk upstairs, pulling on a black t-shirt and some standard blue jeans. Coming down, I grab my car keys and put on my shoes, and I walk out the door, locking it behind. I look at my silver watch, reading 9 AM.

Frankly, I'm not sure why Komachi's so invested in this. I've attempted to date a couple of times during college, but it's never worked out. And then there's the hairy matter of _her._ I've pretty much given up by this point on the pathetic prospect of love by now. After high school, I had a bit of hope, but it's clear to me now that I'll never be able to have that. And if I'm being totally honest with myself…

I really don't deserve it.

Almost done with my long drive, I pull up to the familiar driveway and park. My parents don't seem to be home – as usual, they're living the corporate slavery life. I knock on the door. "Komachi! I'm here!"

A few moments pass, and the door is opened. "Hey! You're here a little early! That scores a lot of points in my book, onii-chan." A grinning expression is on my sister's face. "Let's just go right now. No point in waiting."

"Sounds good to me. Sooner I get this over with, the longer I get to nap."

"You're such an old man already, onii-chan. But don't worry! Komachi still believes in you!" Sheesh. You're too old to be fishing for Komachi points, grow up already woman!

"Where are we headed, anyway?" I pull out of the driveway, keeping an eye out for bratty kids I might run into.

"To the mall nearby. You know the one." Typical. She probably spends more time there than she does at home nowadays. Fortunately, I do know the way pretty well. I drove Komachi and her friends there on a few occasions.

The mall in question is a medium-sized one, and a local favorite. Everyone from thugs to riajuus went there for socializing and blowing their hard-earned (or not earned) cash on whatever pointless trinkets they could find. Getting out from the car, I asked, "Where to?"

Grabbing my arm, Komachi pulled me into the mall. As usual, the sounds and smells of the mall were almost overwhelming. How anyone could stand going to such a place on a frequent basis is beyond me. "We're going to start with -" Komachi froze. She stared ahead at something or someone I couldn't see.

Confused, I walked up next to her and looked at where she was looking. I saw blonde hair. Revealing clothing. Piercing, fiery green eyes staring right at me.

Eyes that felt like they saw through me.

Eyes that wore the same intensity I saw that night all those years ago.

Eyes belonging to someone who probably hated me more than even _her._

Miura Yumiko stood in front of me for the first time in four years, and I really, _really_ wish I had just stayed home this morning.

 **Author's Notes:**

 **A gokon is a kind Japanese group date that usually involves a lot of drinking and merrymaking. (At least, according to the swift google searches I made it is…)**

 **I know next to nothing about living in Japan, so if I make a jarring mistake, I apologize in advance. I'm also still very much inexperienced in writing, and am simply trying this out as a means of self-improvement.**

 **I plan on finishing this story in under a month. How long exactly it will be, I'm not certain. But I'm not sure how capable I am at writing quickly, so bear with me haha – I've been getting distracted lately by the livestreams of certain video game tournaments.**

 **One important thing to note – before I get complaints about characterization, note that this takes place almost 10 years after the events of the actual Oregairu series (and also that I have yet to read volume 12, so I have no idea if anything significant has changed for the characters of our beloved story). For reference, as far as I know, Hachiman is about 16-17 in the series, but in this story, he's 25. Due to the significant aging, most of the cast is going to be generally more mature.**

 **Lastly, I apologize if my style is dry. This is a matter of inexperience, and I hope to improve myself in that aspect with this.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Troublesome Beginning, Part 2

 _1_ _st_ _Saturday_

Despite how loud everyone around us was being, I felt a tensely quiet atmosphere between us, Yumiko Miura, the "Fire Queen" of Sobu, had left Chiba years ago, likely due to painful memories. Why she had returned is anybody's guess.

It's strange, isn't it? Those painful memories kept me trapped in this city, while they forced her away. I guess it's just one of the many things we don't share in common.

"Hikigaya." The look in her eyes were unreadable. Her facial expression was neutral. If there was rage in her, I couldn't see it. In high school, and as a fresh college student, she was terrible at concealing her emotions, preferring instead to unleash them full force at anyone around her.

"Miura." To be frank, I have no idea what to say to her. I've never been particularly close to or even remotely fond of this woman. All I know is that I'm the source of a lot of pain for her – at least, in the past, I was. I have no idea what her mental or emotional state is like nowadays, of course.

"It's… it's been quite some time. Do you have time to talk? We've got old business to resolve, I think." For a moment, as she speaks, she looks more tired, older. Every part of me wants to just say no, and to run away. But something about the look on her face…

I just can't say no. I nod my head yes.

"Onii-chan. I'll take care of the shopping, then. Text me when you're done." Komachi gives me a look. She doesn't say the words, but I know what she means. _Be careful._ It's the kind of thing that only works when two people truly know each other.

"C'mon, let's go. There's a café just around the corner." She turned around, and began walking at a very brisk pace. I follow silently. I'm not sure if what I'm doing right now is very wise, but… I don't think I can escape this situation. It seems even I have to take responsibility sometimes. After a few minutes, she opens the door to one of the shops. "Here we are."

I enter behind her. The café is full of teenagers and young adults. The scent of coffee is overpowering. Trendy clothing, expensive electronics, and lots of shiny jewelry are common themes of most of the patrons. "Hikigaya. Want anything? It's my treat for dragging you out here." While it's a surprisingly thoughtful gesture on her part, I really don't feel like eating or drinking anything right now.

"I'm alright. You get something for yourself. I'll get a table."

"Suit yourself. Get a window table, if you can."

Kind of a random request, but one that's easy to oblige. I take a table by the window and put my chin on my hand, looking out at the busy mall. There really are all sorts of people at a place like this. A few punks walk around, sporting ridiculous hairdos and questionable piercings. A haggard woman leads around a couple of small children. Some preteens are moving in an obnoxious line, filling up the hall as they laugh and scream. Damn kids. You're not the only ones here, you know!

As I'm getting lost in my idle thoughts, the sound of someone sitting in the seat in front of me brings me back to reality. A completely non-extravagant and normal-looking black coffee was in Miura's hands as she sat down. She takes a single sip before putting it back down and looking back at me.

Immediately, the atmosphere becomes awkward. Neither of us ever really knew each other to begin with, and we didn't part on very good terms the last time we met. I could try to say something… but she's the one who wanted to talk, so I think I'll just let her go… I'm not being cowardly, I swear. Just polite.

"So… I want to start with an apology." She looks at her coffee, idly stirring even though her sugar cubes have long since dissolved. "All those years ago, I was just so angry and hurt. Not just with you, but with… with him, as well. I don't think what we had would have really worked out well. He was always so distant, locking his feelings away behind that smiling mask of his. Just before _that_ incident happened, I felt like I had a breakthrough with him. For the first time, he agreed to singing a dumb love song with me at karaoke. It was an American song…"

"When… when _that_ happened… it felt like I was robbed. Like that chance I had gotten was cruelly taken from me, and then I was left with… with _nothing._ I was so bitter and so messed up that I… I wanted someone to hurt. To _suffer._ So that I wouldn't be the only one going through hell. And you… you were the easiest for me to point the finger to. A guy I barely knew… A guy who seemed superficially creepy to idiot 18-year-old me… You were honestly someone I should've sympathized with. Someone I should've felt concerned for. But I was so weak, so bitter, that I attacked you. I'm sorry. I…"

By this point, her voice was cracking. She can't seem to look up at me. Miura's long hair is covering her eyes, but her trembling body betrayed what she was doing. "I'm a terrible person for hurting you all those years ago. Maybe you'll hate me forever. Maybe you'll always think I'm a shallow, stupid bitch. It wouldn't be unfair." The wording makes me flinch, and think back to a certain day, long ago.

Miura finally looks up. It's only then that I notice the bags under her eyes. The tears aren't doing her any favors – she looks miserable and tired. I open my mouth, not even sure of what I'm going to say – but it seems that it doesn't matter if Yumiko Miura is full of misery or vigor, her personality is far more overpowering than mine. With just a _look_ , she silences me.

"I came back to Chiba because I didn't want to run from my past anymore. And to see you again so soon after coming back, maybe, just maybe, it's a sign. I'm sorry, Hikigaya. Sorry for all of those years of dismissing you and for messing things up for you. For using you as an excuse, even though it was all probably my fault anyway." The tears have stopped. Instead, she looks simply tired. People are shooting guilty looks our way, as if they want to watch to see what happens without looking like annoying vultures. Bad news, chumps, you're failing.

Frankly, I'm not sure what to say in this situation. I've never been good at dealing with raw emotion. She's… facing her demons right now. Compared to her, I really am a coward. Back in high school, hell, even now, I deal with my problems by deflecting them. Redirecting them. Finding ways to eliminate the problem without really solving them. It's efficient. It "works." At least in the short-term. Seems like the firebird is trying to find a new future. I was bothered by what she did back then, but as the years went by I came to pity her. And facing her now, I can't help but feel a little admiration. I don't think I need to say much at all, in all honesty. It seems like she simply needed to get things off her chest.

"You don't need to apologize to me. We all went through crazy phases after _that_ happened. I never really took what happened personally, and I'm, uh, glad to hear you're working to get better." I gave her a thumbs up.

"Ha... I pour my heart out, and that's all I get? Sheesh, Hikio. You're so rude and lazy." She puts on a small smile, however. "Still, I'm glad that you feel that way." The two of us fell into a comfortable silence. She took another sip of her coffee. Whatever intensity existed in the atmosphere had pretty much faded. Good thing to me.

"Hikio. I'll let you go now. I would feel bad to keep you away from your sister any longer." I nod quietly in response, relieved that this little meeting had gone well. "Give me your phone," she says.

"Huh?" I ask.

"I'm giving you my number. I thought you were supposed to be perceptive, oh monster of logic."

"Ugh, let that go… I was just an edgy teenager…" Thinking back to my teenage years really make cringe sometimes. I hand my phone to her. She hands her phone to me. Recording our numbers, we trade back. I look through my extremely small list of contacts, and "Yumiko Miura" is indeed recorded. A text message appears, reading, "Testing. Look up if you saw this, Hikio."

Looking up, I say, "What if I hadn't gotten the message and just looked up anyway?"

Completely ignoring my snark, Yumiko simply says, "Well, looks like it worked. Go on ahead, Hikigaya. I think I'll finish my coffee before I go." I roll my eyes before responding.

"Alright. I'll be off, then." I get out of my seat and leave the café. I pull out my phone again, and this time call Komachi. After a few seconds, she answers the phone.

"Onii-chan! What happened?"

"I'll tell you about it later. Where are you?"

"I'm by the entrance we used, actually. It didn't take me long to find something for you."

"Alright. See you in a bit." I close the phone and walk towards the location. On the way there, I notice a woman selling sweets at a stall. I talk to her and buy a couple of pastries. What kind of older brother doesn't treat his younger sister? What? I'm way too old to be acting in such a way? Nonsense! It's not creepy at all!

I notice Komachi sitting at a bench by the entrance. "Oi!" I wave my hand, trying to get her attention. Komachi notices, and walks toward me. "So, are we done here?"

"Yup! Let's go to your place, onii-chan. There we can talk and I can help you look good for your night out. It's about 11:30, so there's plenty of time." As she's talking, the two of us are headed back to my car. When we're inside, I reveal the sweets – two melon breads, soft, moist, and sweet. "You're the best, onii-chan."

The drive back is uneventful. Komachi and I talk about random things, catching up on things going in our lives. She has much more to talk about then me, as usual. I try to subtly pick up information about potential boyfriends in her life – while I have long since accepted that Komachi's happiness was more important than my overprotective desires, I still hold a solemn duty as her older brother to make sure no good-for-nothing scoundrels worm their way into her heart. Unfortunately, Komachi's inherited the Hikigaya ability to pick up on behavioral cues, on top of knowing me better than arguably anyone, so she weaves and dodges every little question and nudge I make.

Talking with Komachi always seems to shorten the car rides. A benefit to a sharp-witted conversationalist, I suppose. Parking in the apartment parking lot, we hit the elevator up to my floor. Entering the apartment, I say, "Yoshida! I'm back. My sister is with me."

Yoshida comes out of his room, dressed in casual clothing. "Hey." Nodding to Komachi, Yoshida says simply, "Good to see you again. What are you doing here?" Yoshida's met her a few times already.

"I'm helping him out for his night out. He's such a dope when it comes to dressing out, I'm worried it'll get in the way of things."

"Heh, good call. This man is useless where anything involving social norms are involved." His face adopts a wry smile. "You should've seen him on the first day of work."

Komachi adopted a facial expression I could only describe as mischievous. "What happened?" Oh for the love of- not this story again.

"The moron came dressed in formal attire, which isn't a bad idea per se, but what made it so hilariously awful was his suit color. It… it…" He's already laughing. Idiot! You haven't even said what's supposedly funny about it yet!

"It was orange! Bright orange!" Komachi's eyebrows rose. Yoshida could only nod as he laughed. He pulled out his phone and after a few taps, showed it to Komachi. I already knew what he was showing her – a picture of me in that bright orange suit. She started snickering, and then laughing outright.

"O-onii-chan, you look like an orange creamsicle!" With my pale complexion, I indeed looked something like the iconic ice cream treat. Much to my chagrin, my co-workers agreed, and I still get called something like that every once in a while…

The suit was something I borrowed out of desperation. I wanted to wear a suit my first day to work, but my actual suit was in the dry cleaner due to bad planning on my part. Keep in mind that I was really low on cash around this time, so when I tried to rent a suit, I asked for the cheapest one – and it turned out to be orange. Nothing I looked up on the Internet said that it was inappropriate to wear orange (probably because the thought of wearing an orange suit never occurred to anyone in the first place…), so I assumed it was alright to wear.

I ended up getting a lot of attention on my first day of work. It was horrible, humiliating, and I never wear suits to work unless the boss specifically asks me to do so. "Yeah, yeah, I look stupid, I get it."

"At least your tie matches the suit." Yoshida laughs again at Komachi's comment. If my eyes could roll any higher, they'd enter the ceiling.

Before I could drop my witty retort, my phone vibrates. My phone's notification read, " _Text Message from Totsuka Saika."_ With no delay, I unlocked my screen and read the message. What could it be? Is he in trouble? Does he need help with something? Is he bailing on the gokon? If he drops out of the gokon, I am definitely not going alone with Zaimokuza.

" _Hey Hachiman! I was wondering if you could pick me up and give me a ride to the karaoke?"_

Oh, he just wants a ride. I message him a swift, "Sure." A moment later, his address was sent to me.

" _Thank you! :-)"_ I message him that I'll come pick him up about half an hour before the gokon starts.

"Onii-chan. Let's eat some lunch before we do anything. We have a good amount of time."

"Sounds good. What do you want?"

"Some of your curry! It's one of the only things I can trust you with."

So rude! I can cook more than just curry now, you know. Besides, the Internet is full of amazing and easy recipes that even a cooking simpleton like me can figure out! I suppose there's nothing wrong with making curry, however. I start by chopping up some vegetables…

A short amount of time passes, during which Komachi watches some television while I scurry about getting the meal ready. Soon enough a delicious pot of curry stands ready for eating while the rice cooker finishes its sole (yet vital) job. "Komachi, let's eat."

"Whew, I'm so hungry! Mmm, it smells good onii-chan." The two of us get our portions and sit down, eating.

"Komachi, I got a text from Totsuka. I'll be picking him half an hour before the gokon."

"Oh, okay. We still have plenty of time, so it should be alright. How is he doing?"

"He's tearing up opponents all across Japan, and seems to be happy with his life. I'd say he's doing great."

"That's awesome. What about… chuuni? I know you're doing some work with him."

"When he's not being an irresponsible moron, he's churning out pretty good work. I DO think that if he keeps it together, his story should do pretty well."

"Really? I thought he was just going to crash and fail. Didn't you say he was prone to giving up too easily?" She's correct. I have harshly criticized his lack of grit; when it came to any sort of pressure, Zaimokuza caved far too easily. He's made great steps towards overcoming that part of his nature, however.

"Lately, he's been getting better. Zaimokuza seems to have developed some sort of self-confidence in his writing. In every other area, however, he seems to be lacking, but…" I pause. I should give credit where it is due. "I do think his work is worth the extra effort on my part. I'd rather die than admit that to him, though."

"Ha! You're such a tsundere. Still, if your writer is doing well, you must be able to have a good time too, onii-chan. I'm glad. I wish I had my career figured out like that." Komachi sighed. Truly, the life of a college student is pitiable.

"You'll be fine. I was floundering for a while before I could get a job, but unlike me, you're someone people like. You should have a much easier time then me in interviews." It's true. Komachi's smart, and whatever she can't understand easily she makes up for with a good work ethic. Add on her social skills and you've got a force to be reckoned with in those interviews.

"Sheesh… you're just saying that." I could tell she was pleased, however. "Anyway, let me go over what you need to do to get ready." Pulling out a pair of jeans and a few fashionable shirts, she says, "Pick one of these shirts and wear them. Wear the jeans. Make sure you shower first, of course, I'm sure my responsible onii-chan planned on doing that already." She shot me a knowing look as she said so. I'm not that lazy, sheesh!

"Just wear your deodorant and be dressed in the clothes I picked onii-chan. You'll look great, despite your unfortunate dead fish eyes. Wear that watch I got you last Christmas and you'll look more important, too. You gotta set a good impression, after all." Sheesh, if she treats job interviews this seriously, she really should have no problem getting in.

"Onii-chan, you're actually not a bad looking guy, if you can get past the dead-fish eyes. Just try not to be too rude… I want you to meet a hot girlfriend that can be my sister-in-law so that I don't have to take care of you." She stuck out her tongue in a mischievous way to show no ill-will with the light jabs.

"Komachii… you're reaching a little too much."

"You're right. I guess she doesn't have to be hot. As long as she makes you happy, onii-chan!" This woman, I swear…

"Seriously, though onii-chan. I believe in you. You deserve happiness. You shouldn't let your past hold you back…" A worried expression appeared on her face. "What happened with her all those years ago… I know that it's stuck with you. Please, onii-chan. You should really let go of that."

I appreciate you, Komachi. Truly. But I'm not agreeing with you. I don't deserve that kind of happiness in my life. I'm going to this party tonight out of a hapless desire to help some of the few who are my friends in this world, not to meet anyone.

"I'll… think about it." Not exactly a lie, but not really a truth, either.

Sensing that she wasn't going to get much farther with me, Komachi sighed. "Well onii-chan, I'll head back home now. I called mom so you don't need to drop me off."

"Alright, Komachi. Thank you for your help today." I really do appreciate my sister. I know that she means well, even if we don't see eye to eye on everything.

Looking at the clock, I realize have a couple of hours. Deciding that sleep would be good for me, I take a nap after setting an alarm.

I dream once more. I'm locked in Niflheim – world of snow. Roaring blizzards fade away into graceful flakes before I wake up once more, completely oblivious to the grace of my dreams and instead minorly irritated at my alarm.

I could go into extra details about my following shower and dressing up, but I'll skip that. "Yoshida! I'm going out." Hearing a grunt as acknowledgement, I leave the apartment, locking it before heading down to my car again.

Revving up the engine, I drive towards Totsuka's place, making remarkable pace. Normally, traffic around 6:00 PM is pretty bad due to the many corporate slaves going home at this time, but today was pretty early, and so I arrived at Totsuka's place ten minutes earlier. Knocking at his door, I wait for a moment, before Totsuka answers.

"Ah, Hachiman! You're a bit early. I'll be out in a moment."

"I'll wait in my car, then."

Within a few minutes, the two of us are headed towards the karaoke bar, which is fortunately quite close to his house. After parking, the two of us wait on a bench outside of the bar. I pull out my phone to call Zaimokuza, but the door to the bar opens, revealing him to already be there.

Figures he's able to be on time when women are involved.

"Come, my comrades! We're to wait in the lobby!"

"Alright, Zaimokuza. Let's go, Hachiman!"

I nod, and follow behind the two. The three of us sit down. There's still about 10 minutes before the appointed time, and I doubt punctuality is key in an event like this. I sit in silence during this time, while Totsuka tries to give Zaimokuza some tips about expressing himself a little better.

My earlier conversation with Komachi resurfaces in my mind. It's true that I've been living a little less fully then I could be, and that it's because of all of the circumstances surrounding _her._ But… there are things I'm responsible for that I cannot forgive myself for. Things I've done and I've tried to do that I just cannot or have not tried to fix, and for those things, I know I'm not ready for finding anything genuine. How could I be? I've lived like a fraud for so long.

As I'm musing to myself, I hear Zaimokuza say, "Hachiman! I think they're here!"

I look up at the people in front of us.

"W-wait… you're… you're Hikitani! And Totsuka!" A young guy with a dumb haircut looks at us. He's vaguely familiar, and he clearly knows me- wait that's Tobe. What in the world? I look past him. He's with a guy I don't recognize.

Tobe starts looking very nervous and panicky. Before I can surmise why, more people enter the lobby. They're women. Familiar looking women.

Black hair. Glasses. A certain mysterious quality in the way she moves, and the way she carries herself.

Striking silver hair. Purple eyes. A unique combination of colors, and a general demeanor that suggested someone not to be trifled with.

Hina Ebina. Saki Kawasaki. People whose paths I crossed with in high school, and never really interacted with again, although I did see them for brief moments at a certain funeral, years ago…

There's another pair of girls here who I don't know, don't recognize. Of course, I'm not paying attention to them. I'm only able to pick up on Hina and Saki from my peripheral, because I'm stuck staring at someone else.

She looks different, which is to be expected. Her hair is no longer dyed. It's in a different style from her signature Chinese bun. She looks wonderful in her red dress, with, ahem, her _proportions_ being as full as ever. Her peach eyes lock with my dead fish ones, and once more, I'm left speechless thanks to an act of the fickle rom-com gods.

Why did I have to run into Yuigahama Yui now?

 **A/N:**

 **Hey guys! It's Heat. I did some extremely minor editing on the previous chapter, correcting a couple of grammar and wording mistakes. I'm going to try to put out another chapter tomorrow, because I'm expecting a relatively busy time this week.**

 **I wonder, are my chapters too long? Too short? My goal is to be around 3 to 4 thousand words a chapter.**

 **Also, I'm increasingly running into a problem with Japanese names – honorifics and order of surnames and first names are a pain for me to deal with, so please bear with me as I attempt to standardize a system for myself. I'm going to avoid using any actual honorifics (with the exception of Komachi's various -chans, because I find it difficult to capture the same emotions Komachi's use of the words for Hikigaya has in English, seeing that there's no real translation from -chan to English) and I'm going to try to keep it first name, last name, Western style. I'm probably going to slip a few times (I'm really used to saying Kawasaki Saki or Yuigahama Yui, for example, so please tell me if you catch it so I can try to keep some sort of established pattern throughout the story.**

 **Added 10/15/2017:**

 *****Fanfic Critic: I already had mentioned that I'm very bad with Japanese names, but honestly I just got it in my head for some reason that Yumiko was Miura's surname and so I switched it around – I had fully intended for Hikigaya to be addressing her by last name. Since you're the first person to criticize my work, I would have loved to explain what was happening with my story and perhaps even improve, but you decided to use an anonymous account and then made a bunch of assumptions not only about my story but me as a person off of a single mistake on my part, which I find to be a bit cowardly but far more importantly not a very productive way to criticize me, since there can't be any discussion!**

 **Still, I'm glad you pointed out such a critical flaw, even though it's obvious your intent was not to actually help me progress as a writer (which is the intended purpose of the review system, I'm not sure if you know that). That being said, anyone else who wants to criticize me, please do so! If you don't tell me what's wrong, I can't fix it!**

 **I'm assuming whoever made that isn't going to be reading any of my story anymore, but it makes it a learning experience for me – I can't actually discuss anything with an anonymous reviewer, so I wonder if I should just turn off anonymous reviews?**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Unwanted Reacquaintance

 _1_ _st_ _Saturday, Evening_

For a moment, everyone simply remained paused. Nobody seemed to know what to say. I sure as hell don't know what to say.

Thank the gods above for Totsuka. "Wow everyone! I didn't expect to see you guys today." He flashes his signature sunny smile, guaranteed to lighten the mood. Totsuka tries to say more, but Yuigahama is the one to interrupt him.

"Totsuka, I'm glad to see you again, but I don't think lightly glossing this over is a good idea." She looks around the room. "There's a lot of things that have been left unsaid for too long over the years. I, for one, fully plan on asking the only one here who was present on the night of that attack what happened. Sorry, everyone. If you all want to have the gokon, go on without us." Yuigahama looks at me, with an unusually fierce look in her eyes. Well… I suppose it's unusual if one was to expect the same Yuigahama from years ago.

Every once in a while, I wondered what had happened to her. If she had ever changed. I assumed that she had long since gotten over her infatuation with me, but I guess what was really important to me was if she was still the same Yuigahama who would always smile and break the tension in our club, who would always be kind and cheerful. Because that Yuigahama was too good for either of her clubmates.

Totsuka looks at me. He's heard the story already, but I can tell he's considering staying as moral support, because that's just who Totsuka is. I don't need him to, however. "Totsuka. You and Zaimokuza go have fun."

"But, Hikigaya…" He looks concerned. Totsuka was one of the few there for me when I was headed down a much darker path. He's seen me at my worse, and my worse generally involved the two girls in my life with two Y.'s for initials. But I'm much better now. There's nothing for him to worry about.

"I'll be fine Totsuka." I glance at Zaimokuza, who thankfully picks up my cue. He grabs Totsuka's arm and begins dragging him towards the strangers in the group.

"Alright! Let's go have some fun!" Zaimokuza pumps his free hand in the air. He enters one of the rooms with them.

Yuigahama looks at Kawasaki, Ebina, and Tobe. "Let's go. There's a place we can grab a bite next door. Hikigaya, don't even think about running away." She gave me a knowing look that made me feel a bit guilty. I only nod meekly, deciding that to run from this encounter would be more trouble than it's worth.

The five of us leave the karaoke bar with absolutely no small talk. Ordinarily I am perfectly alright with silence, but this is the kind of silence that is both tense and uncomfortable, but alas. It seems I can't do much to break the silence.

We enter some chicken restaurant next to the karaoke bar and sit down at a table. A waitress takes orders from those of us willing to eat - my appetite is dead so I decline to order. The moment the waitress leaves, Yuigahama says, "Alright Hikigaya. What happened?"

Briefly, I think about it - and the memories start to flood back. The others watch me intently as I start. "There isn't much to tell." More like, I don't plan on telling you much.

"As you know, I was dating Yukinoshita at the time." Varying looks of pity were sent my way, much to my chagrin. I'm over it, I swear. "We were enjoying a night out, and had just finished, walking to my car. That's when everything went haywire. That blonde fool rushed out suddenly. He threw himself at us, and the next thing I know he's bleeding all over me while Yukinoshita is screaming and everyone around us is running away from the man who shot at Yukinoshita and I. As far as I know, he's still out there somewhere, since the cops said they never found him."

"… That's all that happened?" Yuigahama is looking at me with an intense emotion that I can't describe.

"Well that's the gist of it," I say, confused. What more does she want? That's what happened. It isn't particularly amazing, and there some more details I could divulge, but basically, Hayama Hayato ate a bullet for me. That's the only thing that really matters, isn't it?

"No other significant events happened? At all?" Yuigahama starts looking anxious and begins to sound a tad bit desperate. What's her problem? I was expecting her to be upset over how I basically cut her out of my life with no explanation, but this is a little odd.

"No. Date, walk, bang. That's what happened." Tobe sniggers at my word choice. I resist the urge to roll my eyes and continue looking at Yuigahama.

"… I see." She looks disappointed for some odd reason.

"Hikigaya." Ebina speaks up this time. A very serious look is on her face. "I'm curious about something else. Why did-"

At that moment, we heard an explosion outside. Everyone in the restaurant seemed to freeze for a split second – and all hell broke loose. People started screaming and running. Chairs go flying, glass breaks, people are pouring out of the restaurants and into their cars as quickly as they can. For a moment, it seems like we're trapped by a mass of terrified people – but then Kawasaki comes through for us.

"Move!" She forces aside everyone in her path. Kawasaki looks back at us, and we follow her. Leaving the restaurant, I run towards that damn karaoke bar. "Where are you going?" Kawasaki yells after me. Sorry, Kawasaki. No time to answer.

Damn, it's not looking good. Smoke comes pouring out of the front windows of the karaoke bar. The explosion came from this building. My heart sinks. Totsuka and Zaimokuza are or were in there. I run inside. I head towards the general area I saw Zaimokuza and Totsuka walk towards. My heart starts to race, but I can't tell if it's from lack of exercise or fear.

Analyzing the building's interior, it seems that the explosion went off on the opposite wing of the one I saw them enter. I feel a slight amount of hope as I head in their direction. I see a few doors, and begin banging on them. "Are you in there?"

"Hachiman!" I hear Zaimokuza's voice down the wing. I run towards it, and find him moving out of the men's bathroom with an unconscious Totsuka in his arms. Zaimokuza is limping, a massive shard of wood in his left leg.

"This place could collapse, we need to go!" I hold Totsuka and let Zaimokuza lean on me. I look down at him – blood on his face, we have to get help, _now._ We move as fast as we can, dodging sparks and keeping our heads low to avoid the smoke. We make it out – covered in ash, smelling like smoke, and hacking our lungs out, but at least we're alive. When the three of us make it out, the group of people who went with Totsuka and Zaimokuza originally are the first to greet us.

"Holy crap, I can't believe you all just did that!" Phones come out, and pictures are snapped. For a brief moment, a group of strangers is giving us praise, and we're not sure what to say.

"You're heroes!" Zaimokuza grins at that – and then promptly collapses. How long was he bleeding in there? Thankfully the emergency personnel are here by now. Paramedics rush over to us and check us over. Totsuka and Zaimokuza are placed on stretchers, while I reassure them that I'm unharmed.

I decided to let the professionals do their jobs, and walk over to a nearby bench, sitting down. I'm suddenly very, very tired. Likely the adrenaline fading away. Kawasaki is the first person to approach me.

"Hikigaya. Are you alright?" I nod quietly. "You're such a moron. You could've been killed." Heh, it seems she's still blunt. "Did you drive here?" I nod again. "Alright, let's go." She pulls me off of the bench, and the two of us walk to where I parked my car, just out of the lot that the karaoke bar and chicken shop were in. A group of policemen had already set up some sort of perimeter, and were talking to my… acquaintances, as well as other people who were around or present at the explosion.

To my great surprise, Miura is there, dressed in some sort of uniform, with a detective's badge pinned to the front.

"Hikio. Good to see you're still alive. Thanks for getting him, Kawasaki." Miura gives me a serious look. "Hikio, I'd like to get an account of what happened – could you write down on this paper your account? I need to get to the other witnesses." Too dazed to say much, I only nod.

"Alright, thanks. Hikio, I'll contact you if the police department needs anything, but for now, I'll say my goodbye. See you around."

"Bye…" I weakly say. _Miura's a detective?_ That's pretty impressive. Becoming a detective is hard work, you have to become a police officer and pass a special exam, alongside other requirements I'm sure that I don't know anything about. To do so by the age of twenty-five or six would require astronomical skill, discipline, and dedication.

I wonder if she was motivated by what happened to her boyfriend all those years ago – scratch that, there's probably a one-hundred percent chance that Hayato's murder is what set her down that path. She didn't seem very hard-working in that way when I knew her then, nor did I ever hear any mention about law-enforcement dreams.

I take my time writing my account, although admittedly there isn't much for me to write, as I was in the wrong (or right?) building at the time. Speaking of which – was that explosion an accident, or some sort of terrorist attack? I don't even know that much! I write several times that I know little about what happened, and just to be safe write what I did inside the building after entering it. I doubt law enforcement cares much about me helping a lonely otaku or a prince of tennis, but I'm not going to withhold anything that they might be able to use. I hand the paper to an officer.

Yuigahama walks over to me. "Hikigaya! What were you thinking, running in there? You could've died!" Whatever anger she had earlier was apparently replaced with concern.

"I just had to make sure Totsuka and Zaimokuza weren't in trouble."

Yuigahama sighed, rubbing her forehead. "What am I going to do with you? Look, Hikigaya, earlier, I was kind of already in a bad mood and seeing you just made me remember unpleasant times. I'm sorry for being… interrogative."

Well, at least she isn't mad at me.

"I'm still mad at you, though."

Scratch that. As usual, I'm confused.

"You both just vanished off the radar, y'know? I didn't have any answers, but I had so many questions for such a long time. So much for friends forever…" She looks contemplative for a moment, before smiling.

"We're going to keep in touch from now on, got it?" She hands me a slip of paper with presumably her phone number on it. "I've got to say, though… Seeing you rush in that building, it made me think of when you saved Sable from becoming a pancake back then." What's with that crude wording? Sable a pancake? What a gross mental image!

"Sheesh, I really gotta stop doing dumb things like that. Makes people like you think I'm sticky sweet or something." In all seriousness, I didn't even think much about rushing in. I blame it on Totsuka, he makes me irrational. I'm certainly not the selfless action hero type.

Yuigahama scoffs. "Don't worry, I'd never believe that about you." Well sheesh, I didn't want much praise, but that sounds like a low key insult! "You're too… Hikki for that." Oi, that's just a flat out insult!

"Oi! Apologize to my ancestors! My name doesn't deserve that twisting!" Yuigahama smirked. She then starts to laugh. "Hey, what's funny?" Yuigahama just laughs more.

"I think… I think we had a conversation like this a long time ago." Her laughter dies down to a few giggles. Ugh. It's hard to join in on the feel-good moment when you're laughing at me, Yuigahama. "Anyway, Hikigaya. We'll have to meet up again. There's a lot of catching up to do."

"Alright, Yuigahama. I'll… try."  
"I guess that's the best I'll get from you, heh."

She leaves, and I think we're on good terms now? Ebina and Tobe seem to have left (not together, in case you're getting the wrong idea). Kawasaki is talking to Miura. I get a phone call, all of a sudden, from Yoshida.

"What's up?" I answer.

"Oh good, you're alive. Fyi, that karaoke bar is all over the news right now, people are saying it was some sort of terror attack, and your sister's been texting you."

"How do you know that?"

"She keeps texting me, sheesh. Call her or something. She's worried."

Curses! In all of the calamity, I forgot to reassure my sister of my safety! Don't worry, Komachi! Your onii-chan is safe!

I look at my phone to see quite a few text messages. Skimming through them, I come to the conclusion that my family is quite worried. I mean, I don't even remember the last time my dad's even tried to message me, so they must be quite concerned. I call Komachi.

"Yo."

"Oh great! You're okay! That's good."

"Yeah."

"By the way, you're going viral right now."

"Okay. Wait, what?"

"I'm not kidding. A bunch of people are lauding you as the savior of the prince of tennis. It's what you get for having a celebrity friend, I guess."

"I'll talk to you later, Komachi." I hang up, and go to my phone. In the short time period that I've been out of the burning building, the picture those strangers from the gokon has gotten a lot of hits on various social media.

I'm now a minor celebrity. Great.

 _1_ _st_ _Monday_

It's been a day since that disastrous gokon. The explosion came from a gas leak – whether someone had intentionally done it, or it was a seriously bad accident, nobody knows. A couple of people did lose their lives, unfortunately – but most people got away with no problem. I visited Zaimokuza and Totsuka in the hospital yesterday, and it looks like while Totsuka is getting out relatively unscathed (he had a mild concussion from tripping due to the explosion), Zaimokuza was going to be recovering for quite some time. Luckily for him, his work's insurance covered almost anything, and he only had some minor copays.

I didn't do much else yesterday. I may be a one-shot wonder on the Internet, but it's not something that's affected me at all yet.

Most Mondays, I work. Actually, most weekdays, I work. I try not to be bored or not doing anything, because that's usually how I fall into depressing monologues and trains of thought.

Today's an exception, however. Because today is 3 days before the anniversary of Hayama Hayato's death. I used one of my sick days to get a day off.

I never understood his motives. I never understood why he had any sort of interest in me. Why he was so obsessed with the status quo, when it was so clear that he didn't gain anything from it. Why he dated Yumiko when it seemed he didn't even feel anything for her, or if he really did feel anything for her. Whether or not he had loved Yukinoshita. Whether or not he really resented me, for dating her, or for other reasons.

And above all else, why was he willing to take a bullet for me? I hated that man. To this day, something about him, I still loathe. Hayama said himself that he hated me too, on numerous occasions – but was he being serious? Why would he contradict himself if he wasn't?

He took those secrets, as well as all of his other secrets, to the grave with him. Both Yukinoshita and Hayama are mysteries to me, and will likely stay that way for a long time.

I can't say I liked who he was. That I respected him, or anything like that.

But I can't forget the act he sealed his life with, so I go to pay my respects every year. Perhaps I'll never understand him, but at least I can make sure he's not forgotten.

Hmm? Why go three days before?

Simple. His parents visit their son on the proper anniversary every year, and they sure as hell don't want to see me. The first anniversary was a painfully awkward encounter that I never want to repeat. I go three days before to ensure I don't run into them, or any preparations they may be making.

I drive to the cemetery. It's an hour drive away from the apartment, which is a good amount of gas money, but for this day, it's not a big deal. I enter the cemetery, and walk to the correct row, having memorized his burial site long ago. I stand in front of the tombstone that reads, "Beloved Son – Hayama Hayato."

It's customary to bring flowers and other things for these tombstones. I would do it too, but his parents aren't very fond of me leaving "crap" on his burial marker. They're bitter and understandably upset, and so I don't object. Besides, I doubt Hayama cared much for rituals. My way of honoring his death is a lot less complicated.

" _Heh, Hikitani… We should've gone out drinking together." Hayato coughs, blood leaving his mouth. At this point, I don't care about the blood ruining my shirt._

" _I hate drinking. I thought you said you did too." People around us are screaming, the hitman is running, people are screaming for help. And still, time feels like it's frozen._

" _I know. I do, haa… But I think you would be funny drunk." Hayama coughs one more time, and then closes his eyes forever._

I open the bottle of sake, and pour half of it onto the space in front of me. I down the rest, feeling the burning sensation. We're sharing that drink we never had in his life. I'm not a fan of drinking – can't seem to hold my alcohol very well. But I think it's alright for me to do this. I know his corpse isn't capable of enjoying it, but hey. I'm not particularly religious, and this is all I know.

I sit down in front of the space I poured the sake at. The sky is pretty today, and the sound of the birds only makes me relax more. Still, taking a nap at a graveyard has got to be bad luck or something, so I content myself with simply sitting. I usually leave within a few hours. I find it kind of soothing to meditate here.

I hear some people in the distance. It's a large cemetery, it makes sense that some people might show up nearby. I close my eyes again, looking up and basking in the sun. Still, while it's unlikely I know any of these people, I'd rather not get accused of being some kind of deviant, so I guess I should leave soon. I stand up, opening my eyes – and find myself staring into familiar purple eyes.

I hold back a swear word. _I cannot deal with this woman right now._

"Oh? Hikigaya? What are you doing here?"

"… that's none of your business, Haruno." She's not alone. I see two other, familiar faces. Hayama Hayato's parents are with her.

What the hell? It's almost like someone's actively manipulating my life at this point.

 **A/N:**

 **Hey guys! I think I'll update the summary – I had intended to take this kind of direction with the story from the beginning, but I wanted to surprise people with it. I'm sure I'll find some mistakes to correct, so tomorrow I'll update the summary as well as doing some routine grammar and wording fixes.**

 **So, I plan on making sure the story gets more intense from now on! I hope you all stick with me as this story unfolds.**

 **Special shout outs to you guys who are leaving me helpful and encouraging reviews! (And even not so encouraging reviews, haha) I promise to keep trying to improve and meet your expectations.**


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